Re-construction

I got a bit nostalgic about this bungalow, just round the corner from us, thinking about the people who lived there and called it "Home". It was a nice place, a bit small, but situated on a large corner plot. Now it is all derelict and in a cage, rather sad. It was on one of my paper rounds and I used to deliver The Times there but I never saw the people who lived there, I wonder where they went.

The Family Bash

It was a great time with the family this weekend, lots of fun and laughs as usual, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we are so thankful that we have such a wonderful supportive family. We enjoy listening to the family chatter and watching everyone interacting, it warms our hearts.

Shopping Expedition

We were out shopping in Southampton with Ernalyn, our friend from P&O. They had just evacuated West Quay and I got a bit worried because our car was in West Quay car park with Ernalyn's shopping in it and we had to get her back to the ship, Oriana, by 2.00pm. All was well in the end, we delivered her safely and headed for home to prepare for a special family get together. I will post something about that tomorrow.

Toy Rescue Service

All through the year we collect soft toys and other items suitable for Samaritan's Purse Christmas shoeboxes. We have a good link with one particular charity shop in Boscombe, this picture shows the pile of stuff we have just collected from there, we get this sort of amount every 2 or 3 weeks. Ruth goes through it all, a small amount is rubbish and is binned. Of the rest, all the grubby soft toys go through our washing machine and tumble dryer, other items, such as jewellery, are cleaned and bagged, dolls are sent to a friend of ours who lovingly cleans them up, does their hair and makes clothes for them. At the end, good as new, everything is taken to the warehouse in Christchurch and stored, ready for the shoebox season starting in November.

Lethargy

We were sitting watching a film called the "Bee Movie". John had seen it before and it was just as well because he didn't see much of it this time. We'll be kind and put it down to lingering jet lag, not to mention the warm comfortable house and copious amounts of excellent food prepared by the resident chef!!

Family, Australian Section!

John Josie & Matthew arrived safely yesterday from Australia via Abu Dhabi where they met up with Gideon for a few days. Matthew loves food and jumped up when he spotted Ruth walking in with cutlery in her hand at lunch time today. The food didn't arrive though and he was at a loose end for a while but was persuaded to set the table. He didn't get far and was caught "sitting down on the job", but he still got a fair crack at the food in the end!

Stour View

It was such a beautiful day I was out for a walk crossing Tuckton Bridge when I saw this view, especially the reflections and thought I needed to capture it. Unfortunately, due to the brightness and cloudless sky, the SOOC (straight out of camera) shot was not good, far too blue and quite mundane really. So, I decided to change it to a soft sepia tone using Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software. It's definitely an improvement but I didn't have a lot of time, Josie & john's arrival is imminent!

Heating Problem

Sorry, this is not very interesting, well, not to you anyway, not to me either, actually. We are at panic stations because this heater with its cover off has given up the ghost and John & Josie are arriving tomorrow from hot Australia via even hotter Dubai. At the moment we are gathering up heaters from far & wide in the hope that they won't notice a devastating drop in temperature compared with what they are used to.

Our Church Again

You may remember from an earlier post that the date of our church AGM was shown on the screen. Well, today, was our AGM. I took this photograph with my iPhone which I don't think is too bad considering the distance, the mixed lighting and the fact that I had to be quick. We did things differently this year, following our morning service we had lunch together in church, then the AGM, much better than coming out on another evening. The group you see near the stage are "The Watchmen Singers", a dozen or so men from our church who are in great demand in the Bournemouth area and further afield. 

Beautiful Granddaughter

I didn't actually take this photograph today, I took it at Christmas, but I have printed out a copy today to go in a frame for our wall here in the bungalow so I feel justified in using it for my blog! Anyway, it is of our granddaughter and I thought you might like to see it.

New Runway in Poole?

For Flying Fish. of course!!

Local Wildlife

It has been a beautiful day today in very sunny Bournemouth. The local wildlife are starting to show an active interest in doing something to produce a lot of young local wildlife.

Winter Cleaning

I've had this little lady scudding around the house most of today, crashing and banging and fiddling about, most distressing, makes me nervous. She's sorted out most of the house and is now in the throes of re hashing the front room - again. I feel a headache coming on!!

Flowers in the Porch

I've got this photoshop templates set called "magic blog it board" from MCP Actions. The set has a range from 2 to 16 openings in various formats. The product is designed for web or blog sites and can be used to tell a story or show a theme or group such as I have done with these flowers currently residing in our porch. As you can see I have used one of the 5 opening templates.